Web festooning device



Sept. 8, 1964 R. c. PARKES WEB FES'IOONING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledApril 9, 1963 ATTORNEY Sept. 8, 1964 Filed April 9, 1963 INVENTOR RALPHC. PARKES ATTORNEY United States Patent "ice 3,147,899 WEB FESTODNINGDEVICE Ralph C. Parties, Rydal, Pa, assignor to The National DryingMachinery Company, Philadelphia, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania FiiedApr. 9, 1963, Ser. No. 271,629 1 Cim' m. (iii. 226-106) This inventionrelates to a web festooning device Whereby a flexible web may be formedinto loops of uniform length suspended from horizontally disposed polesor rolls moving in a path at substantially right angles to the path ofmovement of the web toward the poles.

A relatively heavy, or coarse web such as woolen cloth can be clamped toa supporting pole during the formation of a loop by mechanical means,and presents no problem. But, a delicate fabric, especially when wet,will be marked if it is clamped to the pole by mechanical means While itis being draped over successive poles. This problem has been recognizedfor a long time and the structures shown in Patents Nos. 1,287,172;2,534,026 and 2,788,968 are representative of the solutions heretoforeattempted.

It is therefore one object of the invention to produce an improvedapparatus whereby a delicate web is clamped to the supporting polesduring the formation of loops suspended from moving poles by means of astream of air having the requisite velocity.

Since the poles which receive the loops move in a horizontal path andthe air is blown in a generally downward direction, the source of airmust move in an arcuate path so that the stream of air will always beoriented in the direction of the web from the moment the web firstengages a pole until the loop has reached the desired length, by whichtime the pole carrying a complete loop will have passed beyond the rangeof the air stream, whereupon the source of air abruptly swings back soas to direct the stream of air against the web at the moment that theweb engages a succeeding pole to begin forming the next loop, and so on.

As shown in Patent 1,287,172 and Patent 2,534,026, a fixed blowerhousing supplies air to a flexible pipe to which is connected the airdischarge nozzle. In this construction, the axis of the pipe, in thevicinity of its connection to the nozzle, is at right angle to the axisof rotation of the nozzle. This means that the pipe, and particularlythe underside thereof, must flex sharply with each rotation of thenozzle and it does not take long before the pipe is destroyed. Also, theflexing capacity of the pipe limits the arc of rotation of the nozzle.In Patent No. 2,788,968 a fixed plenum is provided and a rotary nozzleis attached to the lower edge thereof. This struc ture has, among otherthings, the advantage of a steady stream of air under substantialconstant static pressure, as compared with centrally concentratedpressure available when the air is blown into the center of the nozzleas in the first-mentioned patents. However, after using the structure ofPatent 2,788,968 successfully for several years, I found that if thejoint between the nozzle and the plenum were made tight, rotation of thenozzle was difficult and if the joint between the nozzle and the plenumwere made loose enough for free rotation, the joint leaked. Also, it wasfound that rotating the nozzle in an arc with the diameter of the nozzleas the radius, or over a relatively small radius, unduly limited thelength of the arc which, in turn, greatly limited the spacing apart ofthe poles carrying the web.

It is therefore the object of this invention to produce a structure inwhich the nozzle proper is rigidly secured to a relatively large plenum;in which the plenum and the nozzle are jointly rotated about an axis farremoved from the poles, thereby permitting rotation of the nozzle over3,147,899 Patented Sept. 8, 1964 a much larger arc and hence widerspacing apart of the poles.

A further object is to produce a structure wherein air is admitted tothe upper end of the plenum longitudinally of the axis of rotation ofthe plenum so as to reduce the twisting of the flexible pipe leadingfrom the source of air to the plenum.

The web to be festooned must be initially guided onto an approachingpole through a throat, or passage, and the direction and size of thethroat should be varied according to the weight, texture and rate ofmovement of the web. In Patent 2,788,968 an adjustable throat is shownbut, once adjusted, the throat is stationary. In Patents Nos. 1,287,172and 2,534,026, the throat is not adjustable. It is therefore a stillfurther object of this invention to produce an improved construction inwhich the throat which guides the web is both adjustable and swingable.

A cloth moving through the throat described tends, especially if wet, tostick to the walls of the throat and, particularly, to the front wall,reference being had to the direction of movement of the web supportingpoles.

It is therefore a still further object of the invention to produce astructure which includes means for preventing, or minimizing thesticking of the web to the wall of the throat.

These and other objects are attained by the invention as set forth inthe following specification and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary and diagrammatic view, partly in side elevationand partly in section, looking in the direction of line 1-1 on FIG. 3and corresponds to FIG. 1 of the Parkes patent.

FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 1, certain parts being omitted, andcorresponds to FIG. 5 of the Parkes patent.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic and fragmentary view looking in the directionof line 33 on FIG. 1 and corresponds to FIG. 2 of the Parkes patent.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view looking in the direction of line 44on FIG. 1.

The machine herein disclosed includes a drying chamber having bottom andside walls 12 and a closed top, not shown; endless sprocket chains 14which carry spaced shafts 36; poles or rolls 16 freely rotatable on saidshafts; sprockets 18 for driving said chains from left to right, asviewed in FIG. 1, and a feed mechanism 20 for delivering Web to bedried, or otherwise treated, to the feed end of the drying chamber. Therate at which web 22 is delivered to the rolls 16 is synchronized withthe rate of movement of said rolls whereby the web is festooned in theform of uniform loops suspended from the poles.

The machine disclosed further includes a plenum 68 which is about aslong as poles 16 and which is provided with a fixed, coextensive bottomnozzle 62. Plenum 60 is supplied with air through rigid pipe 72, one endof which is connected, through flexible conduit 74, to a source of air58. Rigid pipe 72 is rotatably supported on rollers '76 which arecarried by the frame 10 of the machine. The other end of the plenum isclosed and carries a shaft 88 which is journalled in bearing 82 which isalso carried by the frame 10 of the machine. By this arrangement, plenum60 and nozzle 62 are rotatably mounted for joint arcuate movementbetween the positions of FIGS. 1 and 2. It will be noted that, becauseof the distance between the lower end of nozzle 62 and the axis of shaft80, the lower end 62 of the nozzle moves over a wide arc, while the topof the plenum moves over a very small arc, whereby the twist and strainto which flexible conduit '74 is subjected are reduced to negligibleproportions. By this arrangement, no moving seal is needed, and a tightconnection is obtained without any maintenance expense and without anybinding. Also, the

flow of air through nozzle 62 which communicates, over its entirelength, with plenum 60 is more uniform than it is through nozzle 44 ofthe Parkes patent, which is connected to pipe 48 at its center only.

The machine also includes a guide board 64 which is rotatably mounted atits upper end for joint rotation with plenum 6t and the lower edge ofwhich coacts with the lower edge of plenum 60 to form a throat 69through which the web must pass to reach poles 16. Throat 69 isadjustably secured to the plenum by a link 66 which is adjustablysecured to guide board 64 by a pin '71) which is engageable with holes63 in link 66 and a similar hole, not shown, in the guide board. Theother end of link 66 is pivoted to plenum 60, as at 71. By thisarrangement, guide board 64 coacts with the adjacent portion of plenum60 to form an adjustable throat for feeding the web to the poles. ItWill be noted that throat 69 moves jointly with the plenum 60, wherebythe relation of the air stream issuing out of the nozzle 62 to the loopbeing formed between a pair of poles moving therebelow is constant, asdistinguished from structures in which the point of entry of the web isfixed and only the air discharging nozzle oscillates.

I have discovered that, for reasons not yet fully understood, the webdescending towards throat 69 tends to be pulled to the right, as viewedin FIG. 1, and to stick to the left-hand side of plenum 69, as viewed inFIG. 1. This could be due to the pull exerted on the cloth by the polesand/or by the air blowing downwardly against the partly formed loop. Bethat as it may, adherence of the web to the side of the plenum markscloth and interferes with the proper operation of the machine and afterstudy and experiment, I discovered that fluting, or modulating the sideof the plenum, as at 61, FIG. 4, effectively prevents the cloth fromadhering to the plenum. Again, the reason for this desirable effect hasnot been definitely ascertained, but it may be that, in addition todecreasing friction, the air issuing out of nozzle 62 entrains otherstreams of air downwardly in flues 65, FIG. 4. In any event, in thepresence of corrugations 61, the web does not stick to the adjacent sideof the plenum.

The air issuing out of nozzle 62 must clamp the web to the leading poleto avoid damage or marking which may result from the use of mechanicalclamping, and it must exert pressure against the bight portion of anascent loop to pull the left wall 67 of the newly forming loop down. Tothis end, nozzle 62 is deflected slightly to the right, as at 63, sothat it blows on, or in the direction of, the leading roll whereby theair clamps the cloth onto the pole while simultaneously it exertsdownward pressure against the bight of the newly forming loop.

The volume and the velocity of the air directed against the web isvaried according to the type of web and the rate of movement of the web,etc. To this end, nozzle 62 is rendered adjustable by means of a bolt 75which adjustably engages bracket '73 which is suitably secured to theplenum and engages a bracket 77 secured to the righthand wall 79 of thenozzle, as viewed in FIG. 1. Either the entire plenum is made of fairlyflexible material, or only wall 79 thereof can be made flexible, or itcan be made as a separate piece and hinged to the bottom of the plenum.

Since roll 78 of the present disclosure is identical with roll 58 of theParkes patent and since, except as above pointed out, the formation ofthe loops is the same as that described in the Parkes patent, only thefeatures which differ from the Parkes disclosure have been described andonly said features will be claimed.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that by the use of flexible coupling74, an air-tight connection is produced while permitting free rotationof the nozzle; that by making the nozzle and the plenum integral withthe nozzle at a great distancethree or four feet, or more, from the axisof rotation-the nozzle moves through a relatively large arc and theflexible pipe 74 is subjected to a very slight twist which is not enoughto produce any undue wear on the flexible coupling; that by pivoting theguide board, it will be moved jointly with the nozzle while maintainingthe adjustment to which it may have been set, and that nozzle 62 isitself adjustable as may be indicated.

It will also be seen that the discharge nozzle and the adjustable throatmove jointly so that the throat which controls the passage of the Weband the nozzle which lows air on the web move together and maintain aconstant relationship to the loops forming there-beneath.

What i claim is:

A festooning device for forming a flexible web into loops suspended fromhorizontally moving poles, said device including a horizontally disposedair supply pipe,

a plenum, the length of which is substantially equal to the length ofsaid poles,

means journalling the upper end of said plenum for rotation about ahorizontal axis which is an extension of the horizontal axis of saidpipe,

a flexible conduit connecting said pipe to the upper end of said plenum,a restricted orifice at the lower end of said plenum for discharging airfrom said plenum onto said poles,

means actuated by the movement of each of said poles and connected tothe lower end of said plenum to rotate said plenum about said axis tomove said orifice in predetermined relation to said poles,

said orifice being remote from said axis whereby the movement of saidorifice produces minimal distortion of said flexible conduit,

a guide board positioned adjacent said plenum;

a link adjustably securing the lower end of said guide board to thelower end of said plenum,

and means journalling the upper end of said guideboard for rotationabout an axis parallel to, but horizontally spaced from, the axis ofrotation of said plenum whereby said guide board slants downwardlytoward the lower end of said plenum, said board and the lower end ofsaid plenum co-acting to form a throat movable with said plenum.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

